The comparative effectiveness of group and individually contingent free time with inner-city junior high school students

Procedures for Increasing Appropriate Verbal Participation in Special Elementary Classrooms

This study examined the effects of training in the use of a discussion leader "skill package" as a means of increasing the amount of appropriate verbal participation (AVP) by pupils. A multiple baseline design was used with three special elementary classrooms serving as multiple subjects. Five successive conditions were implemented: baseline, introductions, training in limit setting (basic skill training), training in back-up procedures plus shaping (basic skill training follow-up), and discussion leader training. Discussion leader training focused on skills for shaping student verbalizations that were relatively lengthy and of high quality, while maintaining classroom order. Results indicated that: (1) instructing teachers to maximize AVP resulted in no consistent changes in the dependent variables, (2) basic CMTP skill training reduced disruptions by over 80% in all three classrooms while increasing AVP, and (3) additional increases in AVP resulted from the specialized discussion leader training. Increases in AVP resulting from the combination of basic CMTP skill training and the specialized discussion leader training were 187%, 525%, and 1100% in the three participating classrooms, so that by the end of training students in all classrooms engaged in AVP between 33% and 42% of total class time. "Target" students selected prior to baseline as the quietest students in the three classes also increased AVP in proportion to the class as a whole.

Reinforcing Exercise Maintenance

This study compared two types of physical education activities to determine which might be more reinforcing to 10 mentally retarded subjects, as measured by actual participation rates. Using a multielement baseline design, two 15-minute sessions were offered daily, one under an exercise condition and the other under a games condition. Results showed higher participation in games than in exercises and that subjects did not complete exercises to criterion when prompted to do so. A Premack group contingency was then implemented in which the availability of games was made contingent upon completion of all exercises to criterion by all subjects. The procedure led to increases in both exercise participation and completion, as well as a decrease in the amount of time required to conduct the exercise session.

Increasing Cooperation among Children Using Dependent Group-Oriented Reinforcement Contingencies

This investigation evaluated the differential effectiveness of two reinforcement contingencies for improving cooperation among students when solving a mathematics estimation task. The two reinforcement paradigms were a dependent group-oriented contingency and an individual reinforcement contingency. Subjects were 371 children enrolled in grades 2 through 5 at two public schools. The two schools were randomly assigned to the two reinforcement conditions. The estimation task required guessing the number of objects in a container on three occasions, at weekly intervals. Feedback (high, low, or correct) was provided each week. Results showed that the group reinforcement contingency resulted in superior estimation accuracy and was associated with a higher degree of cooperation among students. These findings were discussed within the context of the literature pertaining to group-oriented reinforcement contingencies for improving cooperation and academic skills.

Student-Teacher Contracting with Goal Setting for Maintenance

This study evaluated the use of student goal setting as a strategy for maintaining the effects of student-teacher contracting on the academic productivity of eight economically disadvantaged high school dropouts between the ages of 16 and 21. The study was conducted during the students' basic education skills training class, where students worked in self-paced textbooks in preparation for the GED test. During baseline, students were paid for each hour they attended school. During contracting, students negotiated weekly work requirements with their teacher and were paid contingent on contract fulfillment. Employing a single-subject reversal design, the results showed that student-teacher contracting was effective in increasing student productivity substantially. Subsequently, a multiple-baseline design across students was employed to evaluate the necessity for, and effectiveness of, student goal setting as a strategy for maintaining productivity. During goal setting, students wrote their own work contracts without teacher feedback and were paid contingent on contract completion. The results indicated that goal setting for reponse maintenance proved effective.

Internet-based group contingency management to promote abstinence from cigarette smoking: a feasibility study

BACKGROUND

In contingency management (CM) interventions, monetary consequences are contingent on evidence of drug abstinence. Typically, these consequences are contingent on individual performance. Consequences contingent on group performance may promote social support (e.g., praise).

METHODS

Thus, to combine social support with the monetary incentives of CM, we integrated independent and interdependent group contingencies of reinforcement into an Internet-based intervention to promote smoking abstinence. Breath carbon monoxide (CO) measures were compared between treatment conditions and a baseline control condition. Thirteen participants were divided into 5 groups or "teams" (n=2-3 per team). Each participant submitted video recordings of CO measurement twice daily via the Internet. Teammates could monitor each other's progress and communicate with one another through an online peer support forum. During a 4-day tapering condition, vouchers exchangeable for goods were contingent on gradual reductions in breath CO. During a 10-day abstinence induction condition, vouchers were contingent on abstinence (CO≤4ppm). In both treatment conditions, concurrent independent and interdependent group contingencies were arranged (i.e., a mixed contingency arrangement).

RESULTS

Less than 1% of CO samples submitted during baseline were≤4ppm, compared to 57% submitted during abstinence induction. Sixty-five percent of participants' comments on the online peer support forum were rated as positive by independent observers. Participants rated the intervention favorably on a treatment acceptability questionnaire.

CONCLUSION

The results suggest that the intervention is feasible and acceptable for promoting abstinence from cigarette smoking.

Group contingencies for group consequences in classroom management: a further analysis

The relative effects of rules, rules + feedback, and rules + feedback + group and individual consequences for appropriate behavior were investigated in three elementary classrooms during reading and mathematics periods. The consequences were individual and group praise, and group activities. The total intervention package (rules + feedback + group and individual consequences) was most effective in increasing appropriate behavior. Rules + feedback produced increased appropriate behavior in two of the three classrooms. Rules alone produced no change in classroom behavior. Maintenance of appropriate classroom behavior was noted approximately three weeks after the program ended. Teacher's correct use of praise was also maintained for two of the three teachers at levels generated during the total package condition.

The analysis of group contingency data

The data analyses utilized in group contingency projects are reviewed. Previous studies are cited to emphasize advantages of nonconsolidated ("individual") over consolidated analyses. Several procedures are described that enable applied researchers to incorporate nonconsolidated data analyses in group contingency studies.

Contingency contracting with disadvantaged youths: Improving classroom performance

This study evaluated the effects of a student-teacher contracting procedure on adolescent students' academic productivity. Participants were 13 youths enrolled in a vocational training program for disadvantaged youth and their classroom teacher. During the baseline conditions students were paid contingent on attendance alone, the system operating in the program prior to this research. During contracting conditions students were paid contingent on contract fulfillment of academic productivity goals set by mutual agreement between the student and teacher. Contracting and contingent pay procedures were developed with, and implemented by, the classroom teacher. A reversal experimental design showed that student's productivity more than doubled during contracting conditions as compared with their productivity during baseline.

Standardized classroom management program: Social validation and replication studies in Utah and Oregon

A comprehensive validation study was conducted of the Program for Academic Survival Skills (PASS), a consultant-based, teacher-mediated program for student classroom behavior. The study addressed questions related to: (a) brief consultant training, (b) subsequent teacher training by consultants using PASS manuals, (c) contrasts between PASS experimental teachers and students and equivalent controls on measures of teacher management skills, student classroom behavior, teacher ratings of student problem behaviors, and academic achievement, (d) reported satisfaction of participants, and (e) replication of effects across two separate school sites. Results indicated that in both sites significant effects were noted in favor of the PASS experimental group for (a) teacher approval, (b) student appropriate classroom behavior, and (c) four categories of student inappropriate behavior. Program satisfaction ratings of students, teachers, and consultants were uniformly positive, and continued use of the program was reported a year later. Discussion focused upon issues of cost-effectiveness, differential site effects, and the relationship between appropriate classroom behavior and academic achievement.

The Reduction of Disruptive Behaviour Using Feedback On-Task Behaviour: An Across Setting Study of a Class of 12- and 13-Year-Old Pupils

The growing body of research indicating that classroom behavioural management strategies can successfully modify the behaviour of mainstream classes of disruptive adolescent pupils is referred to. These “successes” are qualified by the observation that they could make the pupil teacher dependent, whereas pupil self-control is the ideal control state. Feedback strategies have the potential to encourage internalization of control (Van Houton, 1984). An intervention package involving the feedback of level of on-task behaviour as a major component is described. The effect on the individual and the group's level of on-task behaviour in two settings (Religious Education and French lessons) is reported. Claims are made that (1) the intervention promoted levels of on-task behaviour and (2) the group data generally reflected the data of individual pupils. The conclusions are drawn that while it remains to be demonstrated that the behavioural attributional tendencies of the pupils were moved in the direction of “internalization” nonetheless the research can serve as a starting point for further research in this area.

Negative reinforcement in applied behavior analysis: an emerging technology

Although the effects of negative reinforcement on human behavior have been studied for a number of years, a comprehensive body of applied research does not exist at this time. This article describes three aspects of negative reinforcement as it relates to applied behavior analysis: behavior acquired or maintained through negative reinforcement, the treatment of negatively reinforced behavior, and negative reinforcement as therapy. A consideration of research currently being done in these areas suggests the emergence of an applied technology on negative reinforcement.

A behavioral program for disruptive Junior High school students: results and follow-up

The 5-year annual and 4-year follow-up results of a collaborative community mental health center--junior high school program for disruptive students are presented. The program is a comprehensive, behavioral, in-school, regular education project characterized by a token economy, parent contracting, major subjects taught in the morning, small class enrollment, small group and individualized instruction, an early release from school contingency option and frequent parent-school communications. Annual controlled outcome results revealed that the program led to significant and consistent reductions in expulsions, suspensions, and grade failure, and variable, often significant, gains in attendance and achievement. Follow-up findings indicated that former program students in senior high school achieved a significantly higher entry rate, greater attendance, better classroom conduct, and a lower frequency of withdrawal from school.

Individual and group feedback systems for improving oral reading accuracy in learning disabled and regular class children

The effect of individual and group feedback upon reducing oral reading errors was investigated using as subjects fifth-grade underachievers from a learning disabled program (LD) and from a regular classroom (non-LD). Both individual and group feedback procedures were found effective when compared with the baseline condition. The efficiency and utility of the group feedback procedure is emphasized. In addition, since the procedures were equally effective for both LD and non-LD students, the treatment utility of feedback in a mainstreamed setting is discussed.

Behavior change in children at a therapeutic summer camp as a function of feedback and individual versus group contingencies

Two contigency systems, individual and group, were evaluated for their effects on children's behavior during small group meetings. Forty-eight children, ages 8 through 14, attended a 7-week residential camp program operated on a token economy system. Ratings of the campers' behavior were made by the counselors on a 5-point rating scale at the daily meetings. Each camper received both contingency programs, in counterbalanced order. Data were gathered during baseline, two feedback and two treatment phases. An analysis of variance for repeated measures was performed on the mean weekly camper scores. The two systems were equally effective in significantly increasing the amount of desirable behavior, and there was no effect on behavior due to feedback alone. The results are discussed in terms of advantages and disadvantages of each type of contingency system, with some suggestions made regarding areas of further investigation.

The reduction of stealing in second graders using a group contingency

Three clases of second graders served as subjects in this study of the effects of two types of intervention programs upon stealing: (1) an antistealing lecture with no specific contingency implied, and (2) a direct group contingency applied, whereby children were rewarded with (a) extra free time for no thefts, (b) allowed normal free time if stolen items were returned, and (c) punished with lost of free if stolen items were not returned. A multiple-baseline design across the three classes showed the group contingency to be effective in reducing stealing behavior; the anti-stealing lecture was ineffective.

A motivational environment for behaviorally deviant junior high school students

A contingency management program was established in a junior high school to better manage and educate students having histories of severe misconduct. School administration selected 46 eighth-graders having multiple suspensions for misbehavior. Students (N = 32) in two of the schools remained in traditional programs, serving as controls, whereas students (N = 14) in the third school participated in a token reinforcement program. Reinforcers provided in the afternoon were contingent upon achievement and discipline during morning academic periods. Home-based reinforcers were established to support school behavior. Compared with the control group, significant reductions in negative school behavior as well as greater increases in academic achievement were obtained for the treatment group, thus supporting the efficacy of contingency management for adolescents school misbehavior.

Interactions between teacher guidance and contingent access to play in developing preacademic skills of deviant preschool children

Token-mediated access to play and snacks was made contingent on completion of academic tasks in the Baseline Experiment. This contingency produced stable completion rates that were subsequently doubled, and then tripled, for four deviant children in a special preschool. A reversal design demonstrated that the contingency was functional in maintaining the children's rates of task completion. The Guidance Experiment examined the role of a social event, teacher guidance, in the acquisition of task-completion skills, in a multiple-baseline-across-tasks design (with reversals). The analysis demonstrated that teacher guidance was an important supplement to the token-mediated contingency in establishing significant increases in task completions for a second group of three deviant children in the special class. The importance of teacher guidance was related to the difficulty level of the children's tasks.

A review of applications of group-contingency procedures used in behavior modification in the regular classroom: some recommendations for school personnel

The increasing popularity of behavior modification techniques has led to the development of contingencies applied on a group-wide basis. The use of group contingencies in regular school classroom research is reviewed and specific studies discussed. A comparison between the effectiveness of group and individual contingencies is made. The positive and negative features of group contingencies are presented. Questions for future research are posed. Finally, recommendations are presented for the practitioner in the school.

Use of response-contingent withdrawal of reinforcement in reducing inappropriate behavior of a retarded child

Reinforcement withdrawal has been shown to be a powerful tool in the analysis and control of various undesirable behaviors. However, attempts to apply this technique to non-institutionalized retardates are notably lacking. In the present study 4 classes of inappropriate behavior were followed by brief withdrawal of reinforcing events (timeout) with a non-institutionalized retarded child. This treatment produced a marked reduction in the frequency of the 4 classes of behavior. Suggestions for future research were discussed.